RCR & Scholarly Activity In-Person Training
Introduction
Why is UK mandating RCR training?
“As a public institution of higher education, public confidence in the responsible conduct of research (RCR) by faculty, staff and students is critical. We must promote and maintain a culture that is supported by an infrastructure that educates and assists in the ethical conduct of research.”
Lisa Cassis PhD, UK Vice President for Research (VPR)
UK has had research misconduct cases in the past few years due to a failure of some researchers to follow Responsible Conduct of Research.
This effects:
- The reputation of UK and its researchers;
- Researchers/research personnel affiliated with the wrongdoer;
- Personnel managing the process for research misconduct;
- Researchers doing honest work that could have received the research funding used;
- General public if faulty data is used in publications is relied upon by the medical community, product development, etc.
Areas of RCR Training at UK
- Mentoring
- Conflict of Interest
- Peer Review
- Research Misconduct
- Data Management
- Safe Work Environments
- Reproducibility
What Will The Rest of the Day Look Like?
- Observe 3 case studies
- Discuss in groups
- Summarize key points
Must have minimum 1 hour of contact together
Case Study One
Safe Work Environment
In this session, learners will learn about harassment and methods for reporting this misconduct at the University.
Through this case, learners will:
- learn about harassment
- consider how to respond to harassment issues
- learn how to report harassment at the University
Discussion
- What are the issues raised by this case?
- What should Nicole do? If her PI is unwilling to meet, is there anyone else she can contact to try and resolve the situation?
- What are ways you can help prevent harassment in academia?
Additional Resources
- UK’s Policy on Harassment: https://www.uky.edu/eeo/discrimination-harassment; https://www.uky.edu/regs/sites/www.uky.edu.regs/files/files/ar/ar6-1.pdf
- Resources on Harassment: https://www.nsf.gov/od/oecr/harassment.jsp
- NIH Anti-Sexual Harassment webpage: https://www.nih.gov/anti-sexual-harassment
- UK Office of Institutional Equity and Equal Opportunity: https://www.uky.edu/eeo/
- UK Violence Intervention and Prevention office: https://www.uky.edu/vipcenter/
Case Study Two
Mentoring / Data Management
In this session, learners will consider research misconduct, consider how stress in the workplace can contribute to poor ethical conduct, and learn about available University resources.
Through this case, learners will:
- examine research misconduct
- learn about university resources to manage work-life stressors
Discussion
- What pressures are being faced by the postdoc?
- How might those pressures change how he conducts his research?
- What could the PD have done before the data analysis stage to help prevent this situation?
- Discuss the PD’s assertion that the data is “good enough for the grant application.”
- What ethical issues are raised if misleading data is presented in a grant application?
- How do you balance work/home life? Should you be able to discuss these expectations with the PI?
- What major mistake did the PD make when he deleted all the negative Western blots?
- What would you do if you were in the PD’s position?
Additional Resources
- UK’s Responsible Conduct of Research & Scholarly Activity webpage: https://www.research.uky.edu/responsible-conduct-research
- DHHS ORI’s Introduction to the Responsible Conduct of Research: https://ori.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/2018-04/rcrintro.pdf
- UK’s Good Research Practice Resource Center: https://www.research.uky.edu/good-research-practice-resource-center
- CITI RCR Course information: https://www.research.uky.edu/responsible-conduct-research/getting-started
- UK Human Resources webpage for work-life balance resources: https://www.uky.edu/hr/work-life-and-well-being
- UK’s Research Misconduct webpage: https://www.research.uky.edu/research-misconduct
Case Study Three
Research Misconduct
In this session, learners will consider the discovery of research misconduct within their work environment, considerations for how to approach this issue, and methods for reporting misconduct at the University.
Through this case, learners will:
- learn about research misconduct
- consider how to approach suspected research misconduct
- learn how to report research misconduct
Discussion
- Sum up the general problem under scrutiny.
- What should she do if she suspects research misconduct?
- With whom should she discuss the issue if the advisor/PI does not have a credible explanation?
- Are there reasonable explanations for the alleged data fabrication?
- Is there a designated person at UK that deals with such issues?
Additional Resources
- UK’s Research misconduct information and reporting webpage: https://www.research.uky.edu/research-misconduct
- UK’s Office of Legal Counsel policy on research misconduct: https://www.uky.edu/regs/ar7-1
- UK’s Responsible conduct in research webpage: https://www.research.uky.edu/responsible-conduct-research
- ORI’s Introduction to the Responsible Conduct of Research: https://ori.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/2018-04/rcrintro.pdf
- UK’s Good Research Practice Resource Center: https://www.research.uky.edu/good-research-practice-resource-center
- CITI RCR Course information: https://www.research.uky.edu/responsible-conduct-research/getting-started
- UK ORI’s webpage: https://www.research.uky.edu/office-research-integrity
Feedback
Reflect
- What were your big takeaways from the training today?
- What lingering questions do you still have regarding the content?
- How might you improve this training specifically for faculty graduate students in the future?
Case Studies
Post-session RCR Case Study Survey - https://uky.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_79CaFBt2jglwtMi
Thank you!!
Questions? tkfr222@uky.edu